According to McCharty and O’Dell
(1994: 18), prefixes are often used to give adjectives a negative meaning. The
opposite of ‘comfortable’ is ‘uncomfortable’,
the opposite of ‘convenient’ is ‘inconvenient’
and the opposite of ‘similar’ is ‘dissimilar’.
Other examples are ‘unjust’, ‘inedible’, ‘disloyal’. Unfortunately, there is no easy way of knowing which
prefix any adjective will use to form its opposite. When you learn a new
adjective note down whether it has an opposite formed with a prefix and, if so,
what it is.
Note:
·
in- becomes im- before a root beginning with ‘m’ or
‘p’ e.g. immature, impatient, impartial, improbable.
Similarly in- becomes ir- before a word beginning with ‘r’
and il- before a word beginning with
‘l’, e.g. irreplaceable, irreversible, illegal, illegible, illiterate.
·
The
prefix in- does not always have a
negative meaning- often it gives the idea of inside or into, e.g. internal, import, insert, income.
Although it is
mainly adjectives which are made negative by prefixes, un- and dis- can also
form the opposite of verbs too, e.g. appear disappear. The prefix is used here to reverse the action of the
verb. Here are some more examples: disagree,
disapprove, disbelieve, disconnect, discredit, dislike, dismount, disprove, disqualify, unbend, undo, undress, unfold, unload, unlock, unveil, unwrap, unzip.
Many other
prefixes are used in English. Here is a list of prefixes which are useful in
helping you to understand unfamiliar words. Some of these words are used with a
hyphen. Check in a dictionary if you’re not sure.
Prefix
|
Meaning
|
Examples
|
Anti
|
Against
|
Anti-war,
antisocial, antibiotic
|
Auto
|
Of or by
oneself
|
Autograph,
auto-pilot, autobiography
|
Bi
|
Two, twice
|
Bicycle,
bi-monthly, biannual, bilingual
|
Ex
|
Former
|
Ex-wife,
ex-student, ex-president
|
Ex
|
Out of
|
Extract,
exhale, excommunicate
|
Micro
|
Small
|
Micro-computer,
microwave, microscopic
|
Mis
|
Badly/wrongly
|
Misunderstand,
mistranslate, misinform
|
Mono
|
One/single
|
Monotonous,
monologue, monogamous
|
Multi
|
Many
|
Multi-national,
multi-purpose, multi-racial
|
Over
|
Too much
|
Overdo,
overtired, oversleep, overeat
|
Post
|
After
|
Postwar,
postgraduate post-revolutionary
|
Pro
|
In favour of
|
Pro-government,
pro-revolutionary
|
Pseudo
|
False
|
Pseudo-scientific,
pseudo intellectual
|
Re
|
Again or back
|
Retype,
reread, replace, rewind
|
Semi
|
Half
|
Semicircular,
semi-final, semi-detached
|
Sub
|
Under
|
Subway,
submarine, subdivision
|
Under
|
Not enough
|
Underworked,
underused, undercooked
|
References:
McCharty,
Michael and O’Dell, Felicity. 1994. English
Vocabulary in Use. UK: Cambridge University Press
